Latest News on the Dog Food Recall

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Latest News on the Dog Food Recall

by Kelly Marshall

On April 24th, 2007 Dick Van Patten?s Natural Balance Inc. issued a voluntary recall on several of their pet food products after receiving a half dozen reports in the same day regarding animals falling ill after consuming the food. Melamine, the same chemical that contaminated wheat gluten in hundreds of foods that have been recalled over the last month, was detected in the rice protein samples.

Since then, importer and distributor Wilbur-Ellis has issued a complete recall of all rice protein that entered the country from manufacturers Binzhou Futian Biological Technology in China.

On April 2nd, when shipment was received by Wilbur-Ellis, most of the rice protein was bagged in the usual white bags except one pink bag that was clearly marked melamine. It was thought at that time that it was a limited incident and that all infected products were recalled. However, melamine has since been discovered in all of the rice protein in that shipment and the FDA is testing all eight shipments of rice protein that has entered the US since July 2006.

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Although it is still believed that no melamine has entered human food production, melamine has been found in urine samples of hogs at the American Hog Farm in Ceres, CA. The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and the FDA are working jointly to discover the cause quickly and hopefully prevent any further food recalls or illness.

All shipments of rice protein and wheat gluten that are imported into North America are currently being tested by the FDA no matter where the product was manufactured or what the ingredients were intended for ? pet food or human consumption.

This is the latest news on the dog food recall. To view the entire history of the topic, including how it started, symptoms of sickness, what to do if your dog ate tainted food, and the complete list of recalled foods, you can download the Definitative Guide to the Dog Food Recall as a pdf file. Or you can read the html version of the dog food recall story as well.